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 ElectricityRetail Prices for Franchise Electricity Customers 2012-2014 -Release of Draft ReportUpdated 10 May 2012 Public Hearing on Draft Report The Commission advertised that it would hold a public hearing on Friday, 10 May 2012 where there was sufficient stakeholder interest. Due to insufficient stakeholder interest the public hearing will not be held. Updated 8 May 2012 The Commission has released its draft report for the supply of electricity to franchise customers for the period 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014. The Commission invites submissions on the draft report. Submissions should be made by Tuesday, 8 May 2012 via email to icrc@act.gov.au or by post to: Independent Competition & Regulatory Commission PO Box 161 Civic Square ACT 2608The Commission intends holding a public hearing on 11 May 2012 where there is sufficient stakeholder interest. Further information, including public hearing registration details, can be obtained by phoning the Commission on (02) 6205 0799. A copy of the Draft Report, Media Release and Submissions Cover Sheet is available below: Background to the Price Direction On 21 September 2011, the Treasurer Andrew Barr MLA referred a price direction for the supply of electricity to franchise customers for the period 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014. The reference is issued under the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission Act 1997. Among other things, the review is required to:
The Commission must produce its final report in time sufficient to allow ActewAGL Retail to make any necessary changes to its billing system and to provide information on the new tariff to customers. The Terms of Reference are available below: On 23 December 2011 the Commission released an Issues Paper as the first step in the process of determining regulated retail electricity prices for the ACT. The Issues Paper identifies matters the Commission considers relevant to determining the efficient costs of supplying electricity to franchise customers in the ACT. A copy of the Issues Paper and submissions received are available below: Submissions (Issues Paper)
Submissions (Draft Report)
Australian Energy Market Commission Review of Competition in the ACT's Retail Electricity Market4 March 2011 In December 2009, the Ministerial Council on Energy requested the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) to assess the effectiveness of competition in the ACT's retail electricity market. The review has been completed and the AEMC released its Stage 2 Final Report outlining its recommendations to promote competition in the ACT electricity retail market on 3 March 2011. Information on the review is available at: The Commission's response to the AEMC's First Draft Report released in July 2010 is available below:
Variation of Electricity Network Use of System Code17 December 2010 The Commission has determined a number of minor variations to the Electricity Network Use of System Code, an industry code made under the ACT Utilities Act 2000. In summary, the varied industry code:
The varied Electricity Network Use of System Code can be accessed, together with an explanatory statement describing the variations in detail, on the ACT Legislation Register at: Variation of Electricity Feed-in Code15 October 2010 The Commission has determined a number of minor variations to the Electricity Feed-in Code, an industry code made under the ACT Utilities Act 2000 that sets out practices and standards for the operation of the ACT Electricity Feed-in Scheme. The principal variations are the updating of Schedule 2 of the Electricity Feed-in Code to ensure consistency with the present version of the Consumer Protection Code and removal of spent provisions relating to the commencement of utility reporting arrangements. There is no change to any substantive provisions of the Electricity Feed-in Code or to utilities' obligations under the Code. The varied Electricity Feed-in Code can be found, together with an explanatory statement describing the variations in detail, on the ACT Legislation Register at: Retail Prices for Non-contestable Electricity Customers 2010-2012 - Release of Final Decision and Price DirectionUpdated 11 June 2010 The Commission has released its final decision and price direction for the supply of electricity to franchise customers for the period 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2012. A copy of the Commission's final report and an accompanying media release is available below: Background to the Investigation On 28 August 2009, the Attorney-General, Simon Corbell MLA, referred the provision of a price direction for the supply of electricity to franchise customers to the Commission. The reference, issued under the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission Act 1997, is for the period 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2012. The Terms of Reference are available below: The Commission released an Issues Paper as the first step in the process of determining regulated retail electricity prices for the ACT. The Issues Paper identified matters the Commission considered relevant to the method for determining the energy purchase cost component in the build-up of the efficient costs of supplying electricity to franchise customers in the ACT. The Issues Paper and submissions received are available below: The Commission released a Draft Technical Paper on 2 November 2009. The Draft Technical Paper described the proposed modelling of the energy purchase cost component of regulated retail prices in the ACT. The Draft Technical Paper and submissions received are available below: The Final Technical Paper (available below) sets out the Commission's approach to the modelling of the energy purchase costs and reasons for the conclusions reached: The Commission released a second Issues Paper on 1 March 2010. The Issues Paper identified matters the Commission considers relevant to the determination of the regulated tariff. The Issues Paper is available below:
The Commission released a draft report and decision for public comment on 16 April 2010. The draft report proposed a regulated maximum tariff for the supply of electricity to customers on standard (non-negotiated) contracts. A copy of the draft report and accompanying media release are below:
Written submissions on the draft report closed on 18 May 2010. Written submissions received are available below. Investigation Timetable The Commission adopted the following timeline for the current phase of this investigation.
Submissions (Issues Paper - Model for Determining the Energy Purchase Cost Component of the TFT)
Submissions (Draft Technical Paper)
Submissions (Issues Paper - Retail Prices for Non-contestable Electricity Customers 2010-2012)
Submissions (Draft Report - Retail Prices for Non-contestable Electricity Customers 2010-2012)
Retail Prices for Non-contestable Electricity Customers 2010-2012 - Cancellation of Public Hearing20 May 2010 News Update: The public hearing scheduled for Friday, 21 May 2010 in relation to this inquiry has been cancelled as no registrations have been received from parties wishing to appear. Retail Prices for Non-contestable Electricity Customers 2009-2010
Updated 5 June 2009
On 23 December 2008, the Attorney-General, Simon Corbell MLA, referred the provision of a price direction for the supply of electricity to franchise customers to the Commission. The direction, issued under the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission Act 1997, is for the period 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010. The reference requires the Commission to produce its final report in time sufficient to allow ActewAGL Retail to make any necessary changes to its billing system and to provide information on the new tariff to customers. The Terms of Reference are available at: The Commission has released its Final Decision and Price Direction. The Final Decision and the Media Release are available below: The Commission released its Draft Decision on 3 April 2009. The Draft Decision set out the Commission's preliminary findings on the level of the regulated retail electricity tariff in the ACT for 2009-2010. The Draft Decision and Media Release are available below.
Prior to releasing the Draft Decision, the Commission released an Issues Paper as the first step in determining retail electricity prices in the ACT from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010. The Media Statement and Issues Paper are available below.
The Commission received the following submissions on the Issues Paper which it considered in preparing the Draft Decision. Submissions
The Commission received the following submissions on the Draft Decision:
18 July 2008 On 7 February 2008, the Attorney-General, Simon Corbell MLA, referred the provision of a price direction for the supply of electricity to franchise customers to the Commission. The direction, issued under the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission Act 1997 is for the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009. On 23 April 2008, the Commission released a draft decision that proposes a regulated maximum tariff for the supply of electricity to customers on standard (non-negotiated) customer contracts for the 2008-09 year. Written submissions on the draft decision closed 23 May 2008. Submissions received are posted here. On 20 June 2008, the Commission released the Final Report and Price Direction on Retail Prices for Non-contestable Electricity Customers in the ACT for the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009. The 'transitional franchise tariff' (TFT) is a regulated retail tariff for customers who choose not to move to a negotiated contract offered by the incumbent retailer, ActewAGL Retail, or by a competing retailer. The Commission approved a 7.11% increase in the annual average transitional franchise tariff price cap. The full report is now available.
Electricity Network Use of System Code1 October 2007 The Commission approved variations to the Electricity Network Use of System Code (the Code) on 31 August 2007. The Code, which requires electricity distribution and suppliers to enter into use of system agreements with each other, has been amended to provide for a default agreement that will apply if agreement cannot be reached. The Code commenced on 1 October 2007. The default agreement applies to all suppliers who currently do not have an agreement with ActewAGL Distribution, taking immediate effect if the supplier has customers in the ACT and if the supplier currently does not have customers in the ACT, from the date that they become financially responsible for a customer connection point. Electricity Network Capital Contributions Code20 August 2007 The Utilities Act 2000 requires that capital contribution charges payable by customers for the development or augmentation of utility networks must be in accordance with the relevant industry code. ActewAGL Distribution has submitted to the Commission draft codes, which outline the principles and procedures by which the gas distributor and the electricity distributor may impose capital contribution charges. On 16 June 2007 the Commission posted a Notice on its website and published a notice in The Canberra Times inviting interested parties to make submissions on the Draft Code. Submissions closed on 20 July 2007. The Commission did not receive any submissions on the Draft Code. On the 14 August 2007 the Commission made the attached Code, which was Notified on the ACT Legislation Register on 20 August 2007. Retail Prices for Non-contestable Electricity Customers 2007-0815 June 2007 The Commission received a reference from the ACT Attorney General instructing it to provide a regulated tariff for franchise, or small electricity customers, for the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008. In response the Commission has released its Draft Decision and Media Release on its investigation of retail prices for non-contestable electricity customers. Copies of the Draft Decision, Submissions received, and the Final Report and Decision released on 15 June 2007 are available below: Proposed Amendment to the 2004 Electricity Distribution Price Direction27 April 2007 The Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission is proposing to amend its 2004 Price Direction regarding ActewAGL Distribution electricity distribution network. The proposed amendment is in response to the introduction of Utilities (Network Facilities Tax) Act 2006 introduced by the ACT Legislative Assembly, which introduced the network facilities tax (NFT). The NFT is a tax levied upon utilities in the ACT on the basis of the length of their network, and applies to ActewAGL’s electricity distribution network. The NFT cannot be passed through under the pass-through provisions contained in the 2004 price direction as the wording of the direction limits the pass-through of a change in taxes to only Commonwealth taxes. The proposed amendment will give the Commission the ability to consider whether it should allow ActewAGL to recover costs incurred as a result of a change in taxes imposed by state or territory governments. The draft decision and media release are available below: The Commission has received the following Submissions on the Draft Decision: The Commission released the Final Decision on 27 April 2007. In its Final Decision the Commission has accepted the proposed amendment as described in the draft Decision. The submission the Commission received all support the proposed amendment, recognising the need to avoid large price increases in 2007 and reflecting the desire that prices remain cost reflective. Final Report - Retail Prices for Non-contestable Electricity Customers 2006-0711 April 2006 The Commission received a reference from the ACT Treasurer instructing it to investigate the need for the continued existence of a regulated tariff for franchise, or small electricity customers. In response the Commission has released its Final Report and media release on its investigation of retail prices for non-contestable electricity customers.
The Commission received the following submissions on its Draft Decision:
The Commission released its Draft Decision in February 2006.
The Commission received the following submissions on its Issues Paper:
The Commission released its Issues Paper in November 2005. Report 17 of 2005: Final Decision - Regulation of Greenfield Electricity Infrastructure DevelopmentThe Commission has been required by the ACT Government to develop an appropriate framework to regulate greenfield electricity infrastructure developments - that is, the price paid by developers or customers for new electricity distribution assets and connection to the network. The Commission has released its Final Decision ( Report 15 of 2005: ACT Review of Metrology ProceduresThe Commission has released its Final Decision ( Prior to the release of Final Decision, the Commission released a Draft Decision ( Submissions on the Draft Decision and Issues Paper can be found on the Energy - Electricity Webpage The Commission received a reference from the ACT Treasurer instructing it to investigate the need for the continued existence of a regulated tariff for franchise, or small electricity customers. If it is found that there is a need to continue the regulated tariff, the Commission is to provide a price direction and recommend the duration for which it is to apply. The Commission has released an issues paper and is seeking comments from interested parties on whether there is a continuing need for a regulated tariff for franchise customers and, if so, how best to calculate the tariff and for how long it should apply.
The following submissions have been received in relation to the Commission's Draft Decision on Metrology Procedures:
The following submissions have been received in relation to the ACT Review of Metrology Procedures, February 2005.
For further information on the ACT inquiry please contact the Commission on (02) 6205 0799. The Commission has received the ActewAGL Pricing Strategy Statement 2004/05 - 2008/09, incorporating the Annual Pricing Report 2004/05. On 28 April 2004, the Senior Commissioner released the above report.
Submissions on Draft Report Submissions on Issues Paper
The Commission, as the regulator of utility services for the ACT and the jurisdictional regulator for the ACT under the code, is conducting an investigation into prices for electricity distribution services provided by ActewAGL within the ACT. The investigation will allow for a decision on pricing to be issued for certain electricity distribution services to apply from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2009 (the next regulatory period).
Submissions on Draft Decision
The Public Hearing on the Draft Report was held on Thursday, 5 February 2004. The transcript is as follows: The National Electricity Code requires that the jurisdictional regulators review jointly the Metrology Procedures that have been implemented in each jurisdiction. The Draft Report, December 2003, was developed by the Jurisdictional Regulators in response to the submissions that were received to the Issues Paper, published in August 2003. The Final Report was released on 8 October 2004. The following jurisdictions participated in the review: NSW (IPART), Victoria (ESC), Queensland (QCA), South Australia (ESCOSA), Tasmania (OTTER) and the ACT (ICRC). For contact information, please go to the State Regulators page. For further information on the review please contact the Commission on (02) 6205 0799.
Submissions on Draft Report Submissions on the draft report of the review undertaken jointly by all National Electricity Market participants to determine the costs and benefits of type 5 and 6 meters and profiling are available on the Essential Services Commission (Victoria) website, which is the secretariat for the review. The documents may be accessed at http://www.esc.vic.gov.au/ Electricity network prices are determined for the ACT under the National Electricity Code (the Code). Part E of the Code specifies the methodology to be adopted in converting the revenue calculated in accordance with Part D of the Code into actual prices. Part E also provides for the jurisdictional regulator, the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission in the ACT, to develop and implement an alternative pricing methodology.
These guidelines apply to all electricity and gas suppliers licenced under the ACT Utilities Act 2000. The purpose of these guidelines is to provide more detailed implementation requirements to electricity and gas suppliers in order that they can meet their obligations under Clause 13.3 (1)(q) of the Consumer Protection Code. This clause deals with the disclosure on customers' accounts of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the consumption of electricity and gas. Full Retail Contestability in electricity started in the ACT on 1 July 2003. Full Retail Contestability, or FRC, simply refers to the freedom to choose your electricity retailer. This means you are able to buy your electricity from the local retailer (ActewAGL Retail) or another electricity retailer. If consumers remain with ActewAGL they do so under the terms of the deemed Standard Customer Contract as a franchise customer or enter a negotiated contract. Negotiated contracts may offer financial and service benefits unavailable to franchise customers. These transitional arrangements will remain available for three years, during which a review will determine whether or not they need to continue.
Last resort arrangements for electricity suppliers are set out in the following guidelines. The Territory's supplier of last resort for electricity is ActewAGL Retail. The Utilities Act 2000 establishes a framework for regulating the provision of electricity, gas and water and sewerage utilities in the ACT. For more information, go to the Utilities Licensing page. In November 2000, the Utility Regulators Forum (URF) agreed that jurisdictional economic regulators, including the ICRC, would develop a core set of nationally consistent performance reporting requirements for the electricity industry. The Standing Committee on National Regulatory Reporting Requirements (SCONRRR) was established and concluded its work in early 2002. The performance reporting requirements developed by the standing committee cover both electricity distribution and electricity retail businesses. The report outlining these requirements, published in March 2002, is entitled “National Regulatory Reporting for Electricity Distribution and Retail Businesses, Utility Regulators Forum discussion paper†and can be accessed using the following link: Utilities licensed to provide electricity transmission, distribution and supply services under section 37 of the Utilities Act 2000 are listed on the Utilities Licensing page. The Commission is the jurisdictional regulator and metrology coordinator for the ACT. As the metrology coordinator, the Commission is responsible for the design and approval of those metrology procedures that will apply to metering installation types 5,6 and 7. The Commission's approved metrology procedures can be viewed at the following link:
Type 7 Meters (unmetered Loads)
The type 7 metering installations currently agreed for the ACT are:
Controlled unmetering loads
Street lighting; and
Traffic lights.
Other unmetered loads
Traffic control/monitoring devices including traffic, pedestrian crossing lights, flood warning systems;
Telephone booth illumination;
Electronic parking meters and parking voucher machines;
Telemetry stations;
Cathode protection units; and
Bus shelter route indication devices or similar.
Utilities are required under their operating licences to comply with any applicable ring fencing guidelines. Failure to meet the guidelines therefore represents a contravention of licence conditions under section 47 of the Utilities Act 2000. Ring fencing guidelines were agreed to by the Commissioners on 15 November 2002 and took effect immediately.
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